BBAW Day 5 – Burnout!

One of the unfortunate side effects of reading and blogging like rockstars seems to be a tendency toward burnout. How do you keep things fresh on your blog and in your reading?

Ugh, slumps.

I’ve been in a little bit of one lately. It seems odd to say that because I have been reading a lot of comics, and I mean, A LOT (it’s #comicsfebruary after all!). But I haven’t been able to attach myself to a proper book of late.

It’s funny as I have often used comics to get me out of a reading slump. The comics take away that emptiness that I feel after being dragged out of a book that has absorbed me for days. So to be stuck in a sorta slump while still reading lots of comics has had me puzzled for days.

Then today, I thought I would listen to an audiobook while I took a walk this morning. I am not an audiobook person and have never been successful at listening to a single audiobook all the way through. I didn’t know what to choose so I randomly picked Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl by Carrie Brownstein.

I’ve not really heard much Sleater-Kinney (Brownstein’s band) and have never seen an episode of Portlandia (which Brownstein stars in), but I just wanted to listen to her read her book. And oh my, her tale of being a young teenaged fan, of going out to concerts, her dad in tow, her writing letters to celebrities. I didn’t know much about Brownstein but I definitely could relate to being a fan of music. It reminded me how it was to be so totally devoted to something. I was a teenager in the 1990s, and worshipped Pearl Jam – it was the grunge era after all.

I only listened to the first chapter and a half but I couldn’t wait until my next walk to listen to more of the book.

So why am I telling you this? It’s because I took a step out of my comfort zone and tried something different. I am not an audiobook person, I don’t know if I will listen to other audiobooks after this one, but there was just something about this morning, listening to Carrie Brownstein’s voice as she told of her teenaged years, or maybe it was the combination of the fresh air and that damp from last night’s storm, but I just felt refreshed, and I felt this need to write things down, and I feel a new desire to throw myself into a good book.

Let’s do this in point form shall we?

Some ideas on how to get over a slump from a blogger who has gone through several slumps, considered quitting blogging altogether many times, changed my blog genre a few times, learnt to ignore stats, the allure of ARCs, and hasn’t even bothered to register a custom domain name:

Try something new. It could be a new reading challenge, a new meme, a new genre of book

Or go back to an old favourite. Reread a childhood classic you once adored. That lovely heartwarming feeling may encourage you to gush about it on the blog.

Step away from the blog for a while. Don’t worry, it will be fine.

Go to your library or bookstore. Take a deep breath and know that there are so many books out there waiting to be read and appreciated or disparaged.

The life of a stay-home mum can often be a tedious one. There is a lot of routine. There is a lot in terms of hands-on activities. There is a lot of exhaustion, mental and physical. (Of course there are those sweet little moments that remind me why I do this but that’s beside the point.) And sometimes the last thing I want to do is sit at my computer and write something. But sometimes that’s the very thing I know I have to do. Because I don’t really know many other crazy reading readers in real life, and so I don’t really have other people to talk about books with. So thank you for reading this and for being part of the bookish community!

I realize that that last paragraph is a little meander away from the question of the day, but it is the last day of BBAW (my first ever!) and I’m so very glad to have taken part in this. It was just a wonderful week, plenty of books to add to my TBR list, plenty of new-to-me bloggers to discover. Thanks so much for hosting this Ana, Jenny, Heather, and Andi!

Some excellent advice! Steppling out of your comfort zone is a good suggestion; sometimes change can break you out of a rut. I am with you on taking a break. It took me awhile to get past my guilt for doing so, but now I take them almost regularly–although not always planned.

I have quite enjoyed this year’s BBAW. I am glad you too part! Have a great weekend.

The internet is kind of amazing for those of us with little kids, isn’t it? It’s a few moments in the day when we can talk about grownup stuff (like books without Little Critter or trains), even if we are talking with people on the other side of the world!